Education Children’s and Young Adult Literature
by
Thomas Crisp
  • LAST REVIEWED: 21 April 2021
  • LAST MODIFIED: 22 September 2021
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0195

Introduction

The field of children’s and young adult literature bridges education, the humanities, and library and information sciences, and is diverse, multidisciplinary, and sometimes contradictory in focus and scope. This article is designed for pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as teacher educators and graduate students who are interested in developing a strong foundation of knowledge about children’s and young adult literature as a discipline. Scholars and researchers of children’s and young adult literature typically explore the connections between youth literature, cultural studies, and literary theory. Such work is grounded in the perspective that the books written for and shared with children and young adults are more than ideologically neutral texts that entertain and educate. Youth literature is informed by cultural attitudes and beliefs about what young people should (and should not) know and about the types of people they should (and should not) be and become. Youth literature, then, does not provide readers with an impartial representation of how the world looks and operates. Instead, children’s and young adult books function as cultural artifacts, as objects that have the potential to shape and influence the ways in which readers view and understand themselves, the people they love, and the world in which they live. Children’s and young adult literature also provides a foundation for literary appreciation, as it sets expectations for story forms and literary language. The materials included in this article are sometimes international in scope, but the focus is on children’s and young adult literature research and scholarship in English. As opposed to centering on the pedagogical uses of youth literature, this article focuses on understanding and analyzing children’s and young adult literature and the ways literature may influence its readers. Those interested in the curricular uses and classroom implementation of children’s and young adult literature will find extensive information available in other Oxford Bibliographies in Education (specific articles related to children’s and young adult literature are described under Teaching Literary Appreciation). This bibliography is not exhaustive, but instead aims to introduce readers to the leading organizations and special interest groups, journals, and texts about children’s and young adult literature. Special attention is also given to topics related to professional issues especially relevant to teachers, researchers, and scholars in education, such as picture books, nonfiction, censorship and prizing, the development of classroom libraries, and literary understanding.

Organizations and Special Interest Groups

There are a number of professional communities devoted to the study and uses of children’s and young adult literature. Some of these communities take the form of independent organizations, while others exist as special interest groups within larger national and international organizations. While each of these communities offers opportunities for professional development and networking, their areas of focus vary. Individuals interested in the academic study of children’s and young adult literature (exploring these books as forms of literature, as opposed to being an indication of readership) will benefit most from organizations like the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA) and the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL). Those who are interested in the pedagogical uses of children’s and young adult literature will benefit from the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) Children’s Literature and Reading (CL/R) special interest group, as well as the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) and the Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA), two special interest groups affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Organizations like the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of the American Library Association (ALA), and the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) are devoted primarily to advocacy, access to materials, and library services for youth.

Professional Journals

Many excellent academic journals in the field of education feature articles that will utilize children’s and young adult literature (see, for example, journals like Reading Research Quarterly, Language Arts, and Reading Teacher). This section highlights journals that are specifically devoted to disseminating knowledge about children’s and young adult literature and/or the implications of its use in pedagogical contexts. Journals like Children’s Literature, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, the Lion and the Unicorn, and Research on Diversity in Youth Literature typically feature articles theorizing and analyzing children’s and young adult literature, media, and culture. Children’s Literature in Education, the Journal of Children’s Literature, The Dragon Lode, and The ALAN Review feature articles that address more directly pedagogical perspectives and approaches to the use of youth literature. Journals like The Horn Book Magazine, Bookbird, and Voice of Youth Advocates focus primarily on advocacy and issues related to access and engagement with books for children and young adults.

  • The ALAN Review. 1972–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The ALAN Review is the peer-reviewed journal of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN). Published three times each year, The ALAN Review features articles, columns, and professional materials directed primarily toward middle and high school teachers. The archives of The ALAN Review are available open access.

    Find this resource:

  • Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature. 1963–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Bookbird is a quarterly journal published by the International Board on Books for Young People that features articles related to any topic in the field of international children’s literature that will be of interest to the community of readers interested in youth literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Children’s Literature. 1972–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Children’s Literature is an annual, peer-reviewed journal of the Children’s Literature Association. Articles are devoted to theoretical perspectives, research, and scholarship that address key issues in the field of children’s and young adult literature, media, and culture.

    Find this resource:

  • Children’s Literature Association Quarterly. 1975–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The Children’s Literature Association Quarterly is the official quarterly journal of the Children’s Literature Association. The journal includes peer-reviewed articles related to theoretical perspectives, research, and scholarship on youth literature, as well as commentaries and reviews of academic books.

    Find this resource:

  • Children’s Literature in Education. 1970–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Children’s Literature in Education is a leading international quarterly journal with a primary audience of academics, librarians, and teachers. The journal features peer-reviewed research articles about classic and contemporary youth literature, as well as children’s media and culture.

    Find this resource:

  • The Horn Book Magazine. 1924–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Since 1924, The Horn Book Magazine has offered articles, commentaries, and reviews related to ongoing and contemporary issues and trends in youth literature. Horn Book Magazine is published on a bimonthly basis (six issues each year).

    Find this resource:

  • Journal of Children’s Literature. 1994–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The Journal of Children’s Literature is the official journal of the Children’s Literature Assembly of NCTE. Published twice annually, the journal features peer-reviewed articles related to children’s literature and its use in classrooms, regular columns, and reviews of children’s books.

    Find this resource:

  • The Lion and the Unicorn. 1977–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The Lion and the Unicorn is an international peer-reviewed journal related to theoretical perspectives and ongoing discussions of youth literature. With a primary audience of academics, the journal features articles, interviews, and reviews of scholarly books.

    Find this resource:

  • Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. 2016–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Research on Diversity in Youth Literature is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to publishing research and scholarship related to issues of equity, justice, inclusion, and intersectionality in youth literature, culture, and media. Published twice annually, the journal features articles and reviews of professional books.

    Find this resource:

  • Voice of Youth Advocates. 1978–.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Voice of Youth Advocates is a professional journal devoted to addressing the needs and interests of young adult librarians and youth advocates. Voice of Youth Advocates promotes young adult literature through columns and articles and includes approximately 350 book reviews per issue (over twenty-two hundred each year).

    Find this resource:

Book Reviews

With more than 260,000 children’s and young adult books currently in print (and another 5,000 books published each year in the United States alone), it would be nearly impossible for even the most dedicated professional to read each new book published in a given year. Within the field of children’s and young adult literature, expert reviewers thoroughly inspect and critically analyze hundreds of children’s and young adult books each year in an effort to locate the most original, engaging, accurate and authentic, and aesthetically pleasing books available. These critical reviews are intended to inform decisions made by teachers and librarians regarding what books to include in their libraries and classrooms, as well as the decisions of academics and scholars who analyze youth literature or utilize children’s books in their research projects. Although reviews of children’s and young adult books are readily available online, the sources included here are, with the exception of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, written by professionals in the field, editorially reviewed, and not affiliated with publishers, making them the best outlets for critical and trustworthy reviews. Reviews from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC Choices) and #WeNeedDiverseBooks have a focus on cultural diversity. Reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal are created with school and public librarians in mind. Kirkus Reviews, Literacy Now, and The Horn Book Guide are more comprehensive and are often organized by theme into booklists.

  • Booklist.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Geared toward an audience of school and public librarians, Booklist and its corresponding website, Booklist Online (with over 180,000 reviewed books), provide reviews of children’s and young adult books. Reviews are searchable, and organized by genre and topic.

    Find this resource:

  • Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Founded in 1945, the Bulletin is one of the leading US children’s literature review journals for school and public librarians. Unique to this publication is the fact that the staff reads and meets regularly to discuss one another’s reviews. Each review provides a summary of content, suggested reading level, and commentary about the book’s quality, its strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions for curricular uses.

    Find this resource:

  • CCBC Choices.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    CCBC Choices is an annual publication from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each list includes fully annotated reviews of children’s and young adult books published the prior year that are recommended by the CCBC librarians.

    Find this resource:

  • The Horn Book Guide.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    A semi-annual magazine that includes reviews and ratings of more than two thousand children’s and young adult books published in the United States across a six-month period. Both the Guide and its online counterpart (Guide Online) are indexed by subject and series.

    Find this resource:

  • Kirkus Reviews.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The Kirkus Reviews website and twice-monthly magazine feature pre-publication reviews of recommended children’s and young adult books. In addition to reviews of individual books, Kirkus creates themed booklists, as well as an annual list of the year’s best books.

    Find this resource:

  • Literacy Now.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Literacy Now, the blog of the International Literacy Association, features review columns of recently published children’s and young adult books. The lists are generally organized by these and feature in-depth reviews organized according to several different age bands.

    Find this resource:

  • School Library Journal.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    School Library Journal annually publishes more than six thousand reviews of children’s and young adult books, apps, multimedia, and technology. Reviews include in-depth critical essays about specific books, as well as more general themed lists that highlight multiple books.

    Find this resource:

  • #WeNeedDiverseBooks.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The website of #WeNeedDiverseBooks features “end of the year” lists of recommended books selected with cultural diversity in mind. Booklists are both general and organized by genre/format and include lists of picture books, books for middle grades, and for young adults.

    Find this resource:

General Overviews and Reference Works

Children’s and young adult literature is a wide-ranging interdisciplinary area of study, with research and scholarship generally situated within education, the humanities, and/or library and information sciences. For decades, each of these areas of study remained largely segregated from the others, but in recent years, many scholars and researchers have made substantive strides in bringing this work together. The books selected for inclusion in this section represent the diversity of the field of children’s and young adult literature. Among these texts are reference books, including dictionaries (O’Sullivan 2010), encyclopedias (Hunt 2005, Zipes 2006), and handbooks (Mickenberg and Vallone 2011; Grenby and Reynolds 2011; Wolf, et al. 2011). Volumes like these are intended to offer comprehensive overviews of children’s and young adult literature in an accessible and easily navigable form that allows users to quickly locate specific information. Other books provide introductions and overviews to approaches to studying children’s literature and ongoing and contemporary issues, trends, themes, and conversations that inform research and scholarship on youth literature (Grenby and Immel 2009; Hunt 2006; Nel, et al. 2021; Reynolds 2011). Many of these books function (in whole or in excerpted form) as textbooks in courses on children’s and young literature at the graduate level and provide excellent introductions to youth literature and its research and criticism.

  • Grenby, Matthew O., and Andrea Immel, eds. 2009. The Cambridge companion to children’s literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This text focuses on critical approaches, perspectives, and ongoing conversations in the field of children’s literature. The sixteen chapters address topics like the origins of youth literature, constructions of childhood, poetry, the oral tradition, classics and canons, literacy readership, humor, school stories, and animal and object stories.

    Find this resource:

  • Grenby, Matthew O., and Kimberly Reynolds, eds. 2011. Children’s literature studies: A research handbook. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This unique volume introduces approaches to children’s literature research. After a brief rationale for the study of children’s literature, sections of the book focus on introducing research and theory, as well as basic children’s literature research skills, approaches to utilizing archives, special collections, and other children’s literature resources, researching visual texts, conducting historical research, and changing forms and formats in children’s and young adult literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Hunt, Peter, ed. 2005. International companion encyclopedia of children’s literature. 2d ed. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This 1,374-page, two-volume set features a variety of detailed essays that cover topics related to theory and critical approaches to the study of children’s and young adult literature, types and genres, contexts, applications, and the traditions of youth literature in countries and regions around the world.

    Find this resource:

  • Hunt, Peter, ed. 2006. Children’s literature: Critical concepts in literary and cultural studies. 4 vols. London and New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    A four-volume set featuring reprints of landmark and influential articles, book chapters, and commentaries in the field of children’s literature. Individual volumes highlight perspectives on criticism, definitions, and distinctions (Volume 1), education and theory (Volume 2), cultural contexts (Volume 3), and international and comparative approaches to the study of children’s literature (Volume 4).

    Find this resource:

  • Mickenberg, Julia, and Lynn Vallone. 2011. The Oxford handbook of children’s literature. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume highlights many of the major critical and theoretical approaches to the study of youth literature through readings of specific texts by many leading children’s literature scholars. The book is divided into parts, with sections focused on adults and children’s literature, pictures and poetics, reading history/learning race and class, and innocence and agency.

    Find this resource:

  • Nel, Philip, Lissa Paul, and Nina Christensen, eds. 2021. Keywords for children’s literature. 2d ed. New York: New York Univ. Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The second edition of Keywords provides brief, original essays on an array of topics related to the field of children’s and young adult literature. The book covers fifty-nine topics organized alphabetically from “adult” through “voice.” An additional nineteen essays are available online.

    Find this resource:

  • O’Sullivan, Emer. 2010. Historical dictionary of children’s literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This resource provides brief entries on a range of topics, including well-known authors and illustrators and literary forms and genres. The volume opens with a seventeen-page chronology of children’s literature from c. 990 through 2008 and is followed by an introduction that describes the early rise, development, and futures of literature for children.

    Find this resource:

  • Reynolds, Kimberly. 2011. Children’s literature: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

    DOI: 10.1093/actrade/9780199560240.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    In spite of its relative brevity (152 pages), this volume provides a comprehensive overview to the history of publishing for children and the academic study of children’s literature. Reynolds also explores future directions in the field and describes some of the recent and ongoing ethical debates related to the creation, dissemination, and uses of youth literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Wolf, Shelby, Karen Coats, Patricia A. Enciso, and Christine Jenkins, eds. 2011. Handbook of research on children’s and young adult literature. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume provides authoritative essays on children’s and young adult literature from education, English, and library and information science. The book is divided into sections focusing on the reader, the book, and the world. Most essays are followed one or more points of departure, written responses from authors and/or illustrators in the field with special expertise or insight into the topic addressed.

    Find this resource:

  • Zipes, Jack, ed. 2006. The Oxford encyclopedia of children’s literature. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Just short of two thousand pages, this four-volume set is organized alphabetically and features essays written by hundreds of children’s literature experts from around the world. Entries focus on significant trends and issues in the field, biographies of well-known authors and illustrators, major individual works, literary genres, and themes. A full online index of entries is available through Oxford Reference.

    Find this resource:

Histories

When considering the history of children’s literature, obvious questions that arise include, “What history?” and “Whose history?” It is impossible for any volume—or even a set of books—to reflect the complete histories of literature from around the world. Even within the United States today, general historical overviews of children’s literature too often focus on “mainstream” (meaning white, middle class, heterosexual, Christian, etc.) children’s literature and all but ignore the histories of parallel cultures. The volumes included here were selected for a number of reasons. Some explore the history of children’s literature with astonishing breadth (Bingham and Scholt 1980, Clark 1997, Hunt 1995, Lerer 2008, Murray 1998), while others focus on a specific genre (Cart 2016) or literature about a particular population (Bishop 2007, Martin 2004, Cart and Jenkins 2006). The selection of these nine books is intended to provide a foundation of understanding and showcase the wide range of children’s literature histories available for readers.

  • Bingham, Jane, and Grayce Scholt. 1980. Fifteen centuries of children’s literature: An annotated chronology of British and American works in historical context. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Organized by historical time period, this volume surveys representative periods and landmark publications in American and British youth literature from the 6th century through 1945. Each section opens with an introduction and is followed by a chronology of highlighted works. Additional sections focus on lists of periodicals, facsimile editions, a bibliography of secondary sources, a name index, and a title index of approximately 9,700 books.

    Find this resource:

  • Bishop, Rudine Sims. 2007. Free within ourselves: The development of African American children’s literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Written by one of the leading experts of African American youth literature, this book traces the development of African American children’s literature pre-1900 through the early 21st century. Chapters focus on various literary genres, landmark texts, important authors and illustrators, and trends and issues in the creation and publication of African American children’s literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Cart, Michael. 2016. Young adult literature: From romance to realism. 3d ed. Chicago: Neal-Schuman.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This expanded and updated edition of Cart’s authoritative text traces the origins of contemporary young adult literature, provides an overview of the genre, and critically examines trends and issues in books for young adults, as well as the world of publishing. Topics relate to demographics, literacy, LGBTQ literature, commercial trends, and the future of print literature in a digital age.

    Find this resource:

  • Cart, Michael, and Christine A. Jenkins. 2006. The heart has its reasons: Young adult literature with gay/lesbian/queer content, 1969–2004. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    After highlighting rare appearances of queer-identified individuals in precursors to young adult literature, Cart and Jenkins trace the development of LGBTQ young adult literature in the United States from the 1969 publication of John Donovan’s I’ll Get There: It Better Be Worth the Trip through the early years of the 21st century.

    Find this resource:

  • Clark, Beverly Lyon. 1997. Kiddie lit: The cultural construction of children’s literature in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Through a series of case studies, Clark examines historical and contemporary cultural understandings of children and their literature. After examining some of the current ways scholars think about children and youth literature, she explores literary shifts occurring at the turn of the 20th century by examining the work of specific authors, as well as larger institutional shifts within American children’s literature across time.

    Find this resource:

  • Hunt, Peter, ed. 1995. Children’s literature: An illustrated history. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The essays in this volume, each written by a leading scholar in the field of children’s and young adult literature, are organized chronologically, beginning with reading in the 16th century. Various chapters explore questions surrounding such topics as morality, power, internationalism, and sexuality. The volume is lavishly illustrated with both color and black and white images. The primary text is followed by a chronology and suggestions for further reading.

    Find this resource:

  • Lerer, Seth. 2008. Children’s literature: A reader’s history from Aesop to Harry Potter. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

    DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226473024.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    In only 385 pages, this volume traces the history of children’s literature across a millennium. Focusing on transformations over time, chapters focus on topics like children’s literature in classical antiquity, literatures of medieval childhood, the Puritan impact on youth literature, fairy-tale philology, the history of the book, and prizes, libraries, and the institutions of American children’s literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Martin, Michelle H. 2004. Brown gold: Milestones of African-American children’s picture books, 1845–2002. New York: Routledge.

    DOI: 10.4324/9780203494714Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Blending both history and analysis, Martin traces the development of African American children’s picture books from the turn of the 19th century to the present. This volume explores how authors and illustrators have addressed African American issues, history, and life. The book is divided into sections focusing on the history, the professional evolution, and the criticism and pedagogy of African American children’s picture books.

    Find this resource:

  • Murray, Gail S. 1998. American children’s literature and the construction of childhood. New York: Twayne.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This book looks across the history of American children’s literature, from The New England Primer to popular authors and illustrators of the mid- to late-1900s, to explore the ways in which children’s books are utilized as mechanisms for socializing young people to the values of the dominant culture. Chapters are organized chronically, spanning Anglo-American colonial children’s literature (1690–1810) through child liberation (1950–1990).

    Find this resource:

Textbooks

The following serve as textbooks for courses in youth literature. In most cases, books such as these would be used in undergraduate- or masters-level courses. The annotations below include overview and survey texts often used in education courses (Galda, et al. 2017; Kiefer and Tyson 2018; Temple, et al. 2018) and in humanities-based courses (Nodelman and Reimer 2003, Russell 2019). Other books focus on specific forms of youth literature, such as young adult literature (Bucher and Hinton 2014) or perspectives and approaches to reading children’s books like critical reading (Hintz and Tribunella 2019), aesthetics (Nikolajeva 2005), or the arts (Gangi 2004). These books were selected for their reputation in the field, but also represent some of the many different types of textbooks available for use in classes about children’s and young adult literature.

  • Bucher, Katherine T., and KaaVonia M. Hinton. 2014. Young adult literature: Exploration, evaluation, and appreciation. 3d ed. New York: Pearson.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Devoted entirely to young adult literature, this textbook is divided into three parts across twelve chapters. In Part 1, the authors define adolescents and their literature, with chapters focused on understanding, evaluating, and selecting youth literature. Part 2 centers on connecting adolescents to young adult literature, including a chapter on protecting intellectual freedom. Finally, Part 3 explores genres of young adult literature, including traditional genres and forms like drama, short stories, comics, graphic novels, and magazines.

    Find this resource:

  • Galda, Lee, Lauren Aimonette Liang, and Bernice E. Cullinan. 2017. Literature and the child. 9th ed. Boston: Cengage.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This textbook provides an introduction to US children’s and young adult literature and its role in classrooms and the lives of young readers. The book is organized primarily by literary genre, with chapters on picture books, nonfiction, folklore, fantasy and science fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, biography and memoir, and poetry and verse. Each chapter provides a historical overview of the genre, teaching ideas, evaluation criteria, and case studies of specific books.

    Find this resource:

  • Gangi, Jane M. 2004. Encountering children’s literature: An arts approach. Boston: Pearson Education.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Although dated, this unique text focuses on integrating the fine arts and literature, emphasizing multicultural and international youth literature, culturally responsive pedagogy, and research-based teaching. Chapters include introductions to genre and the history of children’s literature, teaching children’s literature, cultural studies and children’s literature, picture books, poetry, drama, and world understandings. Appendices focus upon standards and assessment, professional literature/resources, bibliographies of children’s literature, and multicultural and international authors and illustrators.

    Find this resource:

  • Hintz, Carrie, and Eric L. Tribunella. 2019. Reading children’s literature: A critical introduction. Peterborough, ON: Broadview.

    DOI: 10.4324/9781315618838Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Informed by recent research and scholarship, this volume is focused on critical reading of children’s and young adult literature. Individual chapters cover topics ranging from historicizing childhood and the early history of children’s literature to race, ethnicity, and culture, genders and sexualities, and censorship and selection. Chapters conclude with exercises for additional practice and learning various ways of critically reading youth literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Kiefer, Barbara Z., and Cynthia Tyson. 2018. Charlotte Huck’s children’s literature: A brief guide. 3d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    First published in 1961, Huck’s textbook on children’s literature remains a staple in university classes on the subject. The latest edition is divided into three sections. Part 1 focuses on learning about books and children, with individual chapters introducing children’s literature and children’s responses to literature. Part 2 consists of eight chapters dedicated to genres in children’s books. Part 3 describes implementation of children’s literature programs across the curriculum.

    Find this resource:

  • Nikolajeva, Maria. 2005. Aesthetic approaches to children’s literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Each chapter in this volume begins with a short introduction to specific theoretical approaches, provides examples of how those theories can be applied to literary texts, and concludes with experiences, exercises, and suggestions for further exploration. The twelve chapters are organized around such aesthetics as the author, work, genre, content, composition, narration, language, medium, and reader. The book also includes a bibliography, index, subject and name index, and title index.

    Find this resource:

  • Nodelman, Perry, and Mavis Reimer. 2003. The pleasures of children’s literature. 3d ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Despite its age, Pleasures remains one of the finest introductions to the study of children’s and young adult literature. The authors problematize assumptions about children and books before discussing topics like implied readers, teaching pleasure and response, schemata and reading, ideology, intertextuality, and the politics of children’s literature. One of the finest chapters introduces readers to a repertoire of theory, including reader response, psychoanalysis, ideology, cultural studies, and structuralism.

    Find this resource:

  • Russell, David. 2019. Children’s literature: A short introduction. 9th ed. New York: Pearson Education.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This concise volume covers both literary genres and current issues in the field of children’s literature. The ten chapters cover topics like the history of children’s literature, the literary experience, the art and craft of fiction, picture books, poetry, folk narratives, fantasy fiction, realistic fiction, and nonfiction. The book also includes an appendix of children’s book awards.

    Find this resource:

  • Temple, Charles A., Miriam Martinez, and Junko Yokota. 2018. Children’s books in children’s hands. 6th ed. New York: Pearson.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This textbook seeks to provide teachers and pre-service teachers with a variety of practical ideas for sharing youth literature with children. Part 1 centers on understanding literature and the child reader, with chapters addressing literary elements, picture books, diverse books, and international literature. In Part 2, several literary genres are explored, including poetry, traditional literature, fantasy and science fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, and informational books and biography.

    Find this resource:

Selecting Quality Literature

When deciding what children’s and young adult literature to utilize in pedagogical contexts, attention is typically paid to how well a book will lend itself to content area instruction or teaching about a topic of study. For teachers and curriculum developers, an often-overlooked aspect of text selection involves choosing books that provide nuanced, accurate, and authentic depictions that represent the diversity of the world around us. Many of the resources included in this section introduce approaches to reading and evaluating children’s and young adult literature, often with an emphasis on reading critically and multiculturally (Botelho and Rudman 2009, Fox and Short 2003). Other resources provide criteria for evaluation, histories, and trends and issues in literature about a variety of cultural identities (Harris 1997) or specific populations (American Indians in Children’s Literature, Latinxs in Kid Lit, We Need Diverse Books, Brooks and McNair 2007, Gardner 2020, Naidoo 2012, Seale and Slapin 2005).

  • American Indians in Children’s Literature.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    American Indians in Children’s Literature is the quintessential resource for information on depictions of indigenous peoples in children’s and young adult literature and media. This blog was established in 2006 and is maintained by Debbie Reese, tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico. Updated almost daily, users have access to original content, as well as links to book reviews, Native media, and much more.

    Find this resource:

  • Botelho, Maria José, and Masha Kabakow Rudman. 2009. Critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature: Window, mirrors, and doors. New York: Routledge.

    DOI: 10.4324/9780203885208Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume provides a framework for reading, understanding, and evaluating children’s and young adult literature through critical multicultural analysis. The focus is on theoretical discussions of the social constructions of race, class, and gender, as well as the introduction of multiple lenses through which to read and analyze texts. Appendices include listings of children’s book awards and publishers, children’s literature journals and online resources, and more.

    Find this resource:

  • Brooks, Wanda M., and Jonda C. McNair, eds. 2007. Embracing, evaluating, and examining African American children’s and young adult literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited collection of twelve essays is divided into three sections. Part 1 features essays that focus upon textual analysis, including a comparative analysis of historical and contemporary African American youth literature and an analysis of representations of African Americans in biographies. Part 2 includes four essays focused upon response research and theory. Part 3 focuses on pedagogical issues, such as the use of African American literature in rural schools and with pre-service teachers.

    Find this resource:

  • Fox, Dana L., and Kathy G. Short, eds. 2003. Stories matter: The complexity of cultural authenticity in children’s literature. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited collection addresses the complicated and contested notion of cultural authenticity in youth literature by analyzing historical and contemporary trends and issues related to children’s and young adult literature and its sociopolitical contexts. The essays include research and commentary on topics like political correctness, definitions of multicultural literature, and the place of cultural authenticity in education and classrooms.

    Find this resource:

  • Gardner, Roberta Price. 2020. The present past: Black authors and the anti-Black selective tradition in children’s literature. Journal of Children’s Literature 46.2: 8–18.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article argues the importance of educators and students engaging in critical racial literacy practices to disrupt colonist logic, utility, and objectification characteristic within representations of Blackness and Black experiences in children’s literature. After an insightful historical and theoretical overview, the essay concludes with specific recommendations for educators. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Harris, Violet J., ed. 1997. Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Although dated, this edited collection is an invaluable introduction to the histories, issues and trends, and criteria for evaluating literature by and about many historically under-represented American populations. Chapters by leading experts focus on depictions of parallel cultures, like African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Latinx Americans, American Indians. Additional chapters highlight related topics, such as publisher perspectives, reading multiculturally, and critical multiculturalism.

    Find this resource:

  • Latinxs in Kid Lit.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Organized by a group of librarians, teachers, and artists, this blog seeks to engage with works by, for, and/or about Latinx people, promote literacy, and examine the historical and contemporary state of Latinx literature for children and young adults. The site features posts by guest bloggers, lists of award-winning books and other resources, as well as reviews of picture books and early readers, middle grade, and young adult books.

    Find this resource:

  • Naidoo, Jamie Campbell. 2012. Rainbow family collections: Selecting and using children’s books with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer content. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume features an extensive bibliography of more than 250 picture books, easy readers, chapter books, nonfiction, and non-book media featuring LGBTQ people, with an emphasis on materials for children ages twelve and under. In addition to an index of key terms, the book also includes a historical overview of LGBTQ youth literature, tips for creating welcoming and inclusive spaces, and criteria for evaluating queer literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Seale, Doris, and Beverly Slapin, eds. 2005. A broken flute: The Native experience in books for children. Lanham, MD: AltaMira.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The wide range of texts, resources, and materials in this volume are organized generally around the theme of cultural appropriation in children’s and young adult literature. Among the contents are open letters; original stories, essays, and poems; in-depth evaluations of youth literature; and annotated reviews of more than six hundred children’s and young adult books (from preschool through twelfth grade) that depict American Indian people.

    Find this resource:

  • We Need Diverse Books.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The mission of this grassroots organization is to increase awareness and access to children’s and young adult literature with diverse characters. In addition to offering grants, awards, and contests, the organization offers a variety of resources related to diverse youth literature. The “OurStory” tool utilizes a questionnaire to then provide diverse book recommendations.

    Find this resource:

Picture Books, Illustration, and Graphic Narratives

The picture book is unique, in that it is both a literary genre and format. A form mostly associated with youth literature, picture books are utilized in many classrooms from kindergarten through grade twelve. Teaching with picture books requires an understanding of the relationships between image and written word, and the books featured in this section form the basis for understanding these unique texts and forms of art. Several texts theorize how picture books and illustrations work (Moebius 1986, Nikolajeva and Scott 2001, Sipe 1998, Nodelman 1988), while others provide introductions and general overviews (Bang 2016, Eisner 2008, McCloud 2008) or trends and contemporary conversations (Hamer, et al. 2017; Lewis 2001; Sipe and Pantaleo 2008). These volumes focus on illustrations generally, picture books, and/or comics and graphic novels.

  • Bang, Molly. 2016. Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco: Chronicle.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    First published in 1991, this work has been revised and expanded for its twenty-fifth anniversary edition. The volume examines meaning-making through visual images. After discussing how pictures depict emotional content, Bang introduces several principles of effective visual art involving elements such as shape, angle, position, color, and size. The book concludes with several exercises, followed by an analysis.

    Find this resource:

  • Eisner, Will. 2008. Comics and sequential art: Principles and practices from the legendary cartoonist. New York: W. W. Norton.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    The revised and expanded version of Eisner’s 1985 text argues for comics as a distinct discipline and literary and artistic form. The volume discusses comics as a form of reading, as well as the unique aesthetics of sequential art and creative expression (e.g., imagery, timing, the frame, and expressive anatomy). Final chapters address writing and sequential art, the use of sequential art, and approaches to teaching and learning sequential art.

    Find this resource:

  • Hamer, Naomi, Perry Nodelman, and Mavis Reimer. 2017. More words about pictures: Current research on picture books and visual/verbal texts for young people. New York: Routledge.

    DOI: 10.4324/9781315621814Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited collection includes current research on picture books and other forms of visual/verbal texts, including graphic novels, comics, and book apps. The essays utilize and extend Nodelman’s work in his monograph Words about Pictures (Nodelman 1988, also included in this section), published thirty years earlier. Chapters fall into three strands: those that utilize Nodelman’s theories, those that take up graphic novels and comics, and those that focus on materiality and performativity.

    Find this resource:

  • Lewis, David. 2001. Reading contemporary picturebooks: Picturing text. Abingdon, UK, and New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This accessible volume examines some ongoing conversations, disagreements, and confusions that surround the interpretation of picture books. The first four chapters focus primarily on the formal features of the picture book, such as the interplay between written words and images. The final four chapters explore the ways in which readers and contexts inform the shape and form of contemporary picture books.

    Find this resource:

  • McCloud, Scott. 2008. Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: William Morrow.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    A foundational text for understanding comic art, this volume (originally published in 1994) explores the more than three-thousand-year history of the comic, introduces vocabulary, and describes methods utilized in the medium. Written in comic form, the encyclopedic text addresses the theories of comics and visual communication.

    Find this resource:

  • Moebius, William. 1986. Introduction to picturebook codes. Word & Image 2.2: 141–158.

    DOI: 10.1080/02666286.1986.10435598Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This essay, an early theorization of picture books, has been reprinted in several volumes of landmark research in children’s and young adult literature. After describing some of the conventions of picture books, Moebius highlights picture-book codes, including position, size, perspective, frame, line, and color. Available online by subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Nikolajeva, Maria, and Carol Scott. 2001. How picturebooks work. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Utilizing semiotics, this volume argues that picture books function on two communicative levels: the visual and the verbal. The authors provide a detailed review of picture-book research, various attempts at picture-book typologies, the relationship between words and images, and audience. The bulk of the book provides a new vocabulary for analyzing picture books in terms of setting, characterization, narrative perspective, time and movement, mimesis and modality, figurative language, metafiction, intertext, and paratexts.

    Find this resource:

  • Nodelman, Perry. 1988. Words about pictures: The narrative art of children’s picture books. Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    A landmark taxonomy, this book brings psychology, art, semiotics, and reader response to the theorization of narrative art. After addressing issues of implied viewership, Nodelman examines visual information in books before turning attention to relationships between pictures and texts. Attention is given to a range of picture books, from alphabet books and books for very young readers to more sophisticated and complicated texts for older readers.

    Find this resource:

  • Sipe, Lawrence R. 1998. How picture books work: A semiotically framed theory of text-picture relationships. Children’s Literature in Education 29.2: 97–108.

    DOI: 10.1023/A:1022459009182Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    In this article, Sipe provides an overview of research and theorizations about the relationship between the words and images in picture books. He proposes his own term (“synergy”) to describe the unique ways in which verbal and visual texts combine to create a unique form of art greater than either form of text (the written words or the illustrations) on their own. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Sipe, Lawrence R., and Sylvia Pantaleo, eds. 2008. Postmodern picturebooks: Play, parody, and self-referentiality. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited volume focuses on postmodern children’s and young adult literature. Sipe and Pantaleo’s introductory chapter problematizes notions of postmodern literature and works toward defining and distinguishing postmodern picture books from other forms of youth literature. Subsequent chapters focus on tracing the evolution and current trends in picture books, utilizing theories like radical change, transmodernity, and materiality. Three chapters toward the end of the book center on children’s responses to postmodern picture books.

    Find this resource:

Nonfiction and Informational Text

Recent decades have witnessed increased attention paid to nonfiction and informational text. Particularly since the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, nonfiction literature has gained prominence in K-12 classroom settings. Many early introductions defined and argued for the importance of nonfiction youth literature (Carr 1982, Fisher 1972) and sometimes focused on the blurred lines between nonfiction and fiction literature (Nodelman 1986). In recent years, several scholars and researchers argued for the need for more nuanced and uniform definitions for what “counts” as nonfiction and informational text (Maloch and Bomer 2013). Other contemporary research focuses on the role of nonfiction and informational text in classrooms (Duke 2000; Jeong, et al. 2010; May, et al. 2020; Pappas 1993) or argues for the importance of diverse representations in nonfiction youth literature (Crisp, et al. 2021).

  • Bamford, Rosemary A., and Janice V. Kristo, eds. 2003. Making facts come alive: Choosing & using nonfiction literature K-8. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited volume includes a range of essays devoted to choosing quality nonfiction literature for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Chapters focus on topics like aspects of design, access features and visual displays, and writing style.

    Find this resource:

  • Carr, Jo. 1982. Beyond fact: Nonfiction for children and young people. Chicago: American Library Association.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Carr argues for the need for increased attention on nonfiction literature, particularly in schools and libraries. After an introductory essay, subsequent chapters explore various types of nonfiction, including biographies and science and history texts. Although much of the content is no longer current, Carr provides a persuasive argument for the value and importance of nonfiction youth literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Crisp, Thomas, Suzanne M. Knezek, and Roberta Price Gardner, eds. 2021. Reading and teaching with diverse nonfiction children’s books: Representations and possibilities. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited book brings together professional conversations about diverse books and issues of representation in youth literature and the roles and functions of nonfiction and informational text. Bridging theory and classroom practice, chapters focus on a range of social locations, including race, dis/ability, sexual identity, and religion.

    Find this resource:

  • Duke, Nell K. 2000. 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly 35:202–224.

    DOI: 10.1598/RRQ.35.2.1Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This profoundly influential study provides baseline, descriptive data about the lack of informational text in twenty first-grade classrooms. Duke examined print environments, including the inclusion of informational text on classroom walls and other surfaces, as well as the amount of instructional time spent with informational texts. The article includes strategies for increasing the amount of time spent with informational texts in classrooms. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Fisher, Margery. 1972. Matters of fact: Aspects of non-fiction for children. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume provides a critical introduction to nonfiction literature for children. The opening chapter establishes a definition of the genre and explores the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction. Subsequent chapters provide discussions of several common subjects in children’s nonfiction, examining accuracy, readability, design, and illustration. Although some of the content is dated, the book is a foundational text in understanding nonfiction literature for children and young adults.

    Find this resource:

  • Jeong, Jongseong, Janet S. Gaffney, and Jin-Oh Choi. 2010. Availability and use of informational texts in second-, third-, and fourth-grade classrooms. Research in the Teaching of English 44.4: 435–456.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article builds upon the research of Duke 2000 on informational text first-grade classrooms by expanding that study to second-, third-, and fourth-grade classrooms. The authors examined environmental print and informational text use in fifteen classrooms, finding that little instructional time was spent with informational text and that the most common instructional experiences across grades were round-robin reading and completing worksheets. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Maloch, Beth, and Randy Bomer. 2013. Informational texts and the Common Core Standards: What are we talking about, anyway? Language Arts 90.3: 205–213.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Utilizing criteria from the Common Core State Standards, this article examines research about the use of nonfiction and informational texts in elementary language arts education. The authors focus on both reading and writing nonfiction and argues for the standardization of language used to describe nonfiction and informational text. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • May, Laura, Thomas Crisp, Gary E. Bingham, Renée S. Schwartz, Mario T. Pickens, and Kate Woodbridge. 2020. The durable, dynamic nature of genre and science: A purpose-driven typology of science trade books. Reading Research Quarterly 55:399–418.

    DOI: 10.1002/rrq.274Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This study analyzes four hundred award-winning trade books selected for their instructional usefulness in K–12 science classrooms. The article presents a typology for understanding the books as related to science education broadly that challenges much existing research on informational text usage. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Nodelman, Perry. 1986. Facts as art. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 10.4: 162–207.

    DOI: 10.1353/chq.0.0616Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    In this editorial commentary, Nodelman describes the lack of research on nonfiction children’s and young adult literature published in the Quarterly. Nodelman examines criteria and approaches to analyzing nonfiction youth literature before troubling the boundaries that distinguish between nonfiction and fiction. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Pappas, Christine C. 1993. Is narrative “primary”? Some insights from kindergarteners’ pretend readings of stories and information books. Journal of Reading Behavior 25:97–129.

    DOI: 10.1080/10862969309547803Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article describes the results of a study of kindergarteners’ repeated pretend readings of two narrative stories and two informational texts. The results indicate that children were as successful in reenacting the informational books as they were the narrative stories. Pappas argues for the need to rethink the assumption that narrative is primary in early grades classrooms.

    Find this resource:

Censorship and Prizing

Although the terms initially appear antithetical, censorship and prizing are actually closely related acts intended to elevate some books over others. Where censorship focuses on suppressing undesirable texts, prizing operates by drawing attention to books that are highly valued. The resources included in this section explore these topics either independently or in relation to one another. Two pieces are devoted entirely to issues of censorship, its history, and current considerations (MacLeod 1983, Jenkins 2011). One article explores the relationship between censorship and prizing (Kidd 2009). The remainder are devoted to literary prizing, including an overview of awards (Allen 2005), considerations of trends and issues (Kidd 2007, Kidd and Thomas 2016), and the roles of diversity and identity in awards for children’s and young adult literature (Aronson 2001, Pinkney 2001, Crisp 2011).

  • Allen, Ruth. 2005. Winning books: An evaluation and history of major awards for children’s books in the English-speaking world. Staffordshire, UK: Pied Piper.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    An overview of more than seventy major awards for children’s and young adult literature, this volume functions as a reference for major awards in the field of children’s literature. Each chapter opens with a description of the aims, scope, and history of relevant awards followed by lists of books and authors that received those honors.

    Find this resource:

  • Aronson, Marc. 2001. Slippery slopes and proliferating prizes. The Horn Book Magazine (May/June):271–278.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This controversial essay argues against the proliferation of literary prizes in children’s literature, taking aim at awards for literature that depicts diverse cultural identities. Aronson suggests awards should be given based on literary merit alone, not the identities of book creators or characters. Also included in this section is Andrea Davis Pinkney’s response to Aronson. The essay was reprinted on the Horn Book Magazine blog and is available free online.

    Find this resource:

  • Crisp, Thomas. 2011. It’s not the book, it’s not the author, it’s the award: The Lambda Literary award and the case for strategic essentialism. Children’s Literature in Education 42:91–104.

    DOI: 10.1007/s10583-010-9126-8Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article argues for the value of “insider only” awards for diverse children’s literature. Drawing upon strategic essentialism as a theoretical framework, Crisp complicates discussions about identity and literary prizes by utilizing experience and identity politics to confront criticism levied at the Lambda Literary Award upon its decision to exclusively honor cultural insiders. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Jenkins, Christine A. 2011. Censorship: Book challenges, challenging books, and young readers. In The handbook on research in children’s and young adult literature. Edited by Shelby A. Wolf, Karen Coats, Patricia Enciso, and Christine A. Jenkins, 443–454. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This handbook chapter addresses the history and current issues related to censorship of youth literature in the United States. After sharing the details of historical cases of censorship, Jenkins discusses reasons for book censorship, the types of content that tends to be challenged (such as sexual and obscene content), and the role of librarianship in censorship and prizing.

    Find this resource:

  • Kidd, Kenneth B. 2007. Prizing children’s literature: The case of Newbery gold. Children’s Literature 35.1: 166–190.

    DOI: 10.1353/chl.2007.0014Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Focusing on the John Newbery Medal, this article explores the history and traditions of children’s literature prizing. Kidd focuses on the rise of “edubrow” culture and the move toward more pluralistic understandings of literary and cultural merit. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Kidd, Kenneth B. 2009. “Not censorship but selection”: Censorship and/as prizing. Children’s Literature in Education 40.3: 197–216.

    DOI: 10.1007/s10583-008-9078-4Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article blurs the boundaries between censorship efforts and literary prizing. Kidd argues that “selection,” as a librarian ethic, contributes to the construction of censors as “morons” and that anticensorship efforts contribute to canon-making in that they attribute value to books simply for the fact that they have been censored. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Kidd, Kenneth B., and Joseph T. Thomas, eds. 2016. Prizing children’s literature: The cultural politics of children’s book awards. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This edited volume focuses on the history and current state of literary prizing by focusing on issues surrounding awards for (predominantly US) children’s and young adult literature. Chapters address topics like gender, stereotypes, aesthetics, translation, and diversity. Unique contributions include chapters on children’s films, blockbuster books, and literary archives.

    Find this resource:

  • MacLeod, Anne Scott. 1983. Censorship and children’s literature. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 53.1: 26–38.

    DOI: 10.1086/601318Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article explores arguments over literary censorship by placing them in historical context. MacLeod examines social attitudes, the political contexts, and professional conversations that inform the reception of children’s literature.

    Find this resource:

  • Pinkney, Andrea Davis. 2001. Awards that stand on solid ground. The Horn Book Magazine (September/October):535–539.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Written in response to Marc Aronson’s essay (also included in this section), Pinkney argues persuasively that because people of color and other diverse cultural identities have been traditionally underrepresented in “mainstream” awards, “insider-only” awards serve as important gateways to progress. The essay has been reprinted on the Horn Book Magazine blog and is available free online.

    Find this resource:

Classroom Libraries

Although not the only places in which children access books, classroom libraries play a vital role in pedagogical contexts—particularly in early childhood and elementary grades settings. Classroom libraries function as a literary canon, and in these spaces, children encounter (often for the first time) literary choice, reading options, and varied literary representations. The resources included in this section focus on the value of classroom libraries (Applebee, et al. 1988; Fractor, et al. 1993), some focusing specifically on the importance of diverse classroom libraries (Crisp, et al. 2016). Three resources provide specific information about creating (McNair 2015) and assessing the contents of classroom libraries (Howlett and Young 2019, Schneider 2017).

  • Applebee, Arthur N., Judith A. Langer, and Ina V. S. Mullis. 1988. Who reads best? Factors related to reading achievement in grades 3, 7, and 11 (Report No. 17-R-01). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Based upon the National Assessment of Educational Progress, this report describes the characteristics and attitudes of a nationally representative sample of thirty-six thousand students in grades three, seven, and eleven. Specific sections focus on the role of school libraries as resources for materials as well as spaces to read and explore texts.

    Find this resource:

  • Crisp, Thomas, Suzanne M. Knezek, Margaret Quinn, et al. 2016. What’s on our bookshelves? The diversity of children’s literature in early childhood classroom libraries. Journal of Children’s Literature 42.2: 29–41.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This content analysis of preschool and pre-K classroom libraries explores issues related to representations of diversity in classroom libraries, including categories like parallel cultures, socioeconomic status and class, sexual identity, religion, gender, and dis/ability, developmental difference, and chronic illness. The authors also analyze text language, genre, and text type before providing practical solutions for creating a diverse classroom library. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Fractor, Jann Sorrell, Marjorie Ciruti Woodruff, Miriam G. Martinez, and William H. Teale. 1993. Let’s not miss opportunities to promote voluntary reading: Classroom libraries in the elementary school. The Reading Teacher 46.6: 476–484.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article focuses on the value of classroom libraries, with special attention paid to the importance of design, organization, and variety, as well as more logistical information related to seating, focal areas, and recommendations for the number of books per child. The authors assess cases before providing descriptions of four exemplary classroom libraries. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Howlett, Kristina M., and Heather D. Young. 2019. Building a classroom library based on multicultural principals: A checklist for future K–6 teachers. Multicultural Education (Spring–Summer): 40–46.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Drawing upon research and scholarship related to multicultural youth literature and theories of multicultural education, this article presents criteria, primarily in the form of a detailed checklist, for evaluating and selecting quality diverse youth literature for inclusion in classroom libraries. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • McNair, Jonda C. 2015. Creating classroom libraries for grades K–5. In Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: Engaging Young Readers in the 21st Century. 4th ed. Edited by Deb A. Wooten and Bernice E. Cullinan, 169–180. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This user-friendly, straightforward book chapter provides suggestions for pre-service and in-service teachers about how to create, furnish, and organize classroom libraries in K-5 classrooms. McNair offers advice about the number and type of books that should be included, the value of diverse literature, as well as an overview of many different types of texts that could be included (magazines, apps, “classic” literature, chapter books, and so forth).

    Find this resource:

  • Schneider, Veronica. 2017. Classroom library assessment: How culturally responsive is your library? The Open Book.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This resource was created by Lee & Low Books in response to the lack of cultural diversity evidenced in classroom libraries. The free questionnaire is intended to help teachers assess the cultural responsiveness of their libraries, with a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree through strongly disagree) that provides opportunities for teachers to critically examine the protagonists, themes, and contents of books they include in their classroom libraries.

    Find this resource:

Teaching Literary Appreciation

While two of the texts in this section focus on the implementation of children’s literature in a reading program (Wooten, et al. 2018; Colabucci and Napoli 2020), the majority of resources focus on teaching literary appreciation and understanding (Sipe 2008, Wolf 2004, Duke and Bennett-Armistead 2003) and interpretation (Daniels 2002, Yenika-Agbaw 1998). Two research studies highlight the ways in which children read, discuss, and make sense of picture books as art (Arizpe and Styles 2016, Sipe 2000). For more information on the role of children’s and young adult literature in reading and literacy education, see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Education articles on Reading Education and Literacy). The Oxford Bibliographies in Education article on Curriculum Design includes links to reference materials related children’s literature and articles like Oxford Bibliographies in Education article Social Studies Education provide resources about the implementation of children’s and young adult literature in content area instruction. The value of youth literature in arts education is explored in Oxford Bibliographies in Education articles Art Education and The Arts in Early Childhood Education. Finally, the Oxford Bibliographies in Education article on Multimedia Learning includes many resources related to visual literacy, multimodality, illustration, and the relationship between image and written text.

  • Arizpe, Evelyn, and Morag Styles. 2016. Children reading picturebooks: Interpreting visual texts. 2d ed. New York: Routledge.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Part 1 describes the original research that informed the first edition of this volume. That research explores children’s readings and interpretations of visual texts created by well-known picture-book artists in several primary (elementary) schools in the United Kingdom. The five chapters in Part 2 present theoretical perspectives and new research on children’s responses to picture books.

    Find this resource:

  • Colabucci, Lesley, and Mary Napoli. 2020. Books as partners: Diverse literature in the early childhood classroom. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume provides guidance for teachers seeking high-quality, diverse youth literature for use in their early childhood classrooms. The book is organized around themes, including families, friendship, and understanding the world in which we live. Books as Partners provides topic overviews, criteria for evaluation, classroom vignettes, and lists of recommended books.

    Find this resource:

  • Daniels, Harvey. 2002. Literature circles: Voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This book is the quintessential text about literature circles. Daniels describes what research suggests about successes and challenges of literature circles, and he articulates eleven key ingredients to successful literature circles in a balanced reading program. Case examples, logistical information, strategies, assessments, and detailed descriptions for implementing literature circles across grade levels constitute the bulk of the book.

    Find this resource:

  • Duke, Nell K., and Susan V. Bennett-Armistead. 2003. Reading & writing informational text in the primary grades. New York: Scholastic.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    Focused exclusively on informational text, this volume introduces a framework for implementing informational text in elementary grades settings. Chapters focus on topics such as shared reading and reading informational text aloud, scaffolding reading development with informational text, motivating children to read informational text, teaching children to compose informational text, content area reading, and integrating informational text in print-rich classroom environments.

    Find this resource:

  • Sipe, Lawrence R. 2000. The construction of literary understanding by first and second graders in oral response to picture storybook read-alouds. Reading Research Quarterly 35.2: 252–275.

    DOI: 10.1598/RRQ.35.2.4Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This case study examines the oral responses to picture storybook read-alouds in one interpretive community of first- and second-grade children. Sipe identifies and describes five types of literary understanding exhibited: textual analysis, intertextual connections, personal connections, engagement in the world of the story to the extent that it becomes transparent with the real world, and using the text as a pretext or platform for creative expression. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

  • Sipe, Lawrence R. 2008. Storytime: Young children’s literary understanding in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume describes, interprets, and theorizes the literary understandings of young children. Part 1 describes theoretical perspectives and research about picture books and the children’s responses to literature. Part 2 presents five interrelated aspects of literary understanding. Part 3 highlights the role of teachers as enablers of literary understanding. Detailed appendices include a list of research studies that informed the book and a valuable glossary of picture-book terminology.

    Find this resource:

  • Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. 2016. “You gotta BE the book”: Teaching engaged and reflective reading with adolescents. 3d ed. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    First published in 1997, this text explores approaches to utilizing drama, symbolic story representations, and visual art to engage students in literary world-making. Across six chapters, Wilhelm describes approaches to engaging adolescent readers, focusing on reader-centered and response-centered classrooms, responses to literature, and the evocative, connective, and reflective dimensions of reader response.

    Find this resource:

  • Wolf, Shelby A. 2004. Interpreting literature with children. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This volume provides definitions of literature and literary interpretation, describing essential ideas for expanding engagement with youth literature. Early chapters discuss several types of literary criticism and the pedagogical value of literary analysis and evaluation of texts. Subsequent chapters focus on the ways language, culture, class, and gender inform children’s responses and understandings of texts, as well as ways of incorporating literature and literary analysis in classrooms.

    Find this resource:

  • Wooten, Deborah A., Lauren Aimonette Liang, and Bernice E. Cullinan, eds. 2018. Children’s literature in the reading program: Engaging young readers in the 21st century. 5th ed. New York: Guilford.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    First published in 1992, this volume is designed for pre-service and in-service teachers interested in utilizing children’s literature to foster literary appreciation in their reading programs. Chapters explore topics like literary genres and subgenres, investigating texts and images, multicultural, global, and critical reading, as well as drama and text selection. In addition to indexes of authors and illustrators, a closing chapter offers detailed information about additional literature resources.

    Find this resource:

  • Yenika-Agbaw, Vivian. 1998. Taking children’s literature seriously: Reading for social justice and change. Language Arts 74.6: 446–453.

    Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

    This article explores insights from children’s texts that can be gained from multiple stances toward reading literature. Yenika-Agbaw provides detailed readings and analysis of a single text from the perspectives of pleasurable reading, postcolonial reading, and critical multicultural reading to argue for the value of interrogating ideologies to read for social change and justice. Available online with subscription.

    Find this resource:

back to top

Article

Up

Down